John Hicks Adams (1820–1878) was an American 49er of the California Gold Rush and sheriff of

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...

between 1864 and 1870, and again between 1871 and 1875. He was also Deputy

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforc ...

for the Arizona Territory 1878, and a noted

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

Early life

John Hicks Adams was born in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,808. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois Territory. ...

, on June 13, 1820. His father, John Adams Sr., was elected sheriff of Madison County in 1838. John Jr., was appointed deputy sheriff; his duties included collecting taxes and taking care of court business. In December 1841, John Hicks married Mathilda Pomeroy. Their first child, May Hanna, was born one year later on December 21, 1842. In May 1847, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, Adams joined Company J, 5th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers. During the march south, the commander of his company, Captain Niles, died and Hicks was promoted to Captain of Company J, the rank he continued to maintain throughout his year and half of active duty. Hicks served most of his time in the Southwest, fighting Indians. Captain Adams was discharged from the service on the October 12, 1848. When word spread East that gold had been discovered in California, John went across country, arriving in Hangtown in August 1849. John stayed in the gold country mining, until September 1851, when he returned home. A year later in the spring of 1852, he again started for California, but this time he was accompanied by his family. They settled in Georgetown, where John continued mining, when in 1853 they moved to a farm near Gilroy.

Career as county sheriff

John started his political career by running for and winning the office of Santa Clara County Supervisor for Gilroy and Almaden Township in the September election of 1861. In 1863, John ran for sheriff, beating William Aram by more than 500 votes. With the passing of Sheriff Kennedy on February 6, 1864, the board of supervisors appointed Adams (who would have been sworn in as sheriff in March) to finish out Kennedy's term. Soon afterward, a band of Confederate

partisan rangers The Partisan Ranger Act was passed on April 21, 1862 by the Confederate Congress. It was intended as a stimulus for recruitment of irregulars for service into the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The Confederate leadership, lik ...

, known as

Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers was the name given by the '' Sacramento Union'' to a band of about fifty Confederate Bushwackers organized from local Copperheads and members of the Knights of the Golden Circle in 1864 by Rufus Henry Ingram in ...

from the San Jose area robbed two stage coaches in the

Bullion Bend Robbery Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from th ...

near Placerville. During the pursuit Deputy Sheriff Staples of

El Dorado County El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...

was gunned down when he surprised them at a rooming house the next day. Information filtered to Sheriff Adams that the Confederates were holed up in a shack near Almaden. Sheriff Adams and a posse of Deputies surrounded the shack, and demanded their surrender. The robbers failed to obey the order and tried to escape. A shoot-out ensued, like one in a western movie. All of the Confederates were either captured or killed in the volley of shots. Sheriff Adams was wounded when a bullet struck his pocket watch and glanced into his ribs. Later that year and the next Adams pursued another gang of "partisan rangers", the Mason Henry Gang who had rapidly degenerated into a vicious gang of outlaws, committing robberies, thefts and murders in the southern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

, Santa Cruz County,

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

and Santa Clara County preying on stagecoaches, ranchers and others especially if they were known Union men in the vicinity. Adams pursued the gang with the help of two companies of Native California Volunteer Cavalry from Camp Low during the summer of 1865. But no one could locate their hideout at

Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish ''loma'' -hill, ''prieta'' -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was ...

. In June 1865, a posse of nine soldiers and five citizens led by Sheriff Adams searched the area around the

Panoche Valley Panoche Valley is a grassland valley lying between the Diablo Range and the San Joaquin Valley, in San Benito County, California. The valley is bound on the north by Panoche Hills, on the east by Tumey Hills, on the south by the Griswold Hills a ...

in what is now southern

San Benito County San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for " St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,209. The co ...

in search of the gang after receiving a reliable tip that they were planning a raid on the ranches there. However a system of spies set up by the secessionists had warned the band of their approach, when Sheriff Adams arrived at Panoche, Mason and Henry were already retreating towards Corralitos. Despite some encounters they were not caught but Adams pursuit made it so hot for them they soon left for Southern California. There Henry was killed by the sheriff in

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

in September 1865 and Mason by

Benjamin Mayfield Benjamin Mayfield (1831–187?) was a cowboy and a miner who killed the outlaw John Mason. Early life Benjamin Mayfield, the second son of American pioneer farmer William Mayfield and his first wife, was born in Illinois in 1831. His father move ...

a miner, near

Fort Tejon Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (''La Cañada de las Uvas'') between the San Emigdio Mountains and ...

in 1866. While in office Adams acquired a good reputation as a lawman and ran successfully for re-election in 1865 and 1867. He became the first sheriff in Santa Clara County to be elected to three successive terms. Retiring for a couple of years in 1870, he again ran for re-election in 1871 and 1873, winning both terms. Although he didn't personally capture the highwayman Tiburcio Vasquez, he was a good detective and it was his information that led to Vasquez's arrest and capture in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Vasquez was hung before a large crowd of men, women and children in the yard of the Santa Clara County Jail. In 1875 Adams lost an election and finished his last term in March 1876.

Death

On January 24, 1878, Adams left San Jose to mine gold in Arizona. In late August, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal for the Arizona Territory. Ten days later, he and a fellow officer were ambushed by five Mexican bandits between the Washington Mine and

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Adams put up a fight despite being shot and appeared to have been beaten to death with clubs and rocks. The murderers were caught in Mexico, but Mexican officials refused to extradite them to the United States for the prosecution of the murders. Santa Clara County Website: The Sheriffs of Santa Clara County: Sheriff John Hicks Adams

References

General references

* * Boessenecker, John, ''Badge and Buckshot'', Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

External links